Officials at the Atlanta Municipal Airport began making plans for a
replacement passenger terminal in the mid 1950s when the old facilities (which
dated back to 1948) were bursting at the seams with overwhelming traffic.To handle the 1950s demand the old Quonset Hut Terminal (a war surplus
hangar) had sprouted two concourses but was still hopelessly obsolete.

The Atlanta-based architectural firm of Robert and Company was
hired to design a new facility and opted for a Centralized Terminal design
similar to the 20th Street Terminal under construction at Miami
International Airport.The
estimated price of the new terminal was $21-million.

The Blount Brothers Construction Company of Birmingham
was the project contractor and began construction in 1958 on a site adjacent to
the old Quonset Hut Terminal.

A brand new 1961 Terminal viewed from the Quonset Hut Terminal's
center concourse.

When completed in 1961 Atlanta’s new terminal became the largest passenger facility in the world and its rated
capacity was 4.5-million passengers a year.The complex was comprised of a central Ticketing/Baggage Claim Building,
an Administration Building and five concourses.

The 1961 Terminal's beautiful vaulted ceiling and
windows.

The Googie-style Ticketing/Baggage Claim Building was 450’ long
and featured an attractive/modern-scalloped roofline.The Arrival (lower) Level boasted mechanical luggage
carousels and housed ground transportation facilities.The Departure (upper) Level contained two airline ticket counter islands
and featured a lovely barrel-vaulted ceiling.Capital,
Delta and Southern occupied the east side of the building while Eastern,
Northwest and Trans World Airlines were found in the west.

The International-style Administration Building and the lovely scalloped roofline of the Ticketing/Baggage Claim Building.

The twelve-story Administration Building, situated behind
the Ticketing/Baggage Claim Building, was designed in the International style and
featured a rooftop ATC-Tower.The
steel and glass structure had teal-color exterior paneling and tinted curtain
walls.An
illuminated “Atlanta” sign decorated the building’s parapet on the north
and south sides.Terminal shops and
restaurants were found within the Mezzanine Level of the office tower.

The terminal’s five concourses were equipped with 50 gates
capable of handling the Boeing 707 or Douglas DC-8.Concourses B through D had ramp-level gates while Concourses
E and F featured upper level departure lounges equipped with suspended-type
jetways.Enclosed pedestrian
bridges connected the central terminal with the five concourses.Eastern occupied Concourse B and shared Concourse C with Southern Airlines.Capital, Northwest and Trans World shared Concourse D while Delta
Airlines was housed at Concourses E and F.

On May 3, 1961 the beautiful new terminal was officially opened
during a ceremony held within the Departure Level.Present at the festivities were Atlanta Mayor William B. Hartsfield (who
had been very instrumental in the terminal’s creation) and Delta Airlines
President C. E. Woolman.

A United Airlines Sud-Aviation Caravelle (Left) and a
Vickers Viscount prop-jet (Right).

United began scheduled service on July 1, 1961
after the merger
with Capital Airlines.As a result
of the merger United Airlines got routes from Atlanta to Birmingham, Cleveland,
Jacksonville, Miami, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Tampa, which were operated
utilizing Boeing 720 jetliners and Vickers Viscount turbo-prop airliners.On October 29th, United Airlines introduced the French Sud-Aviation
Caravelle jetliner on flights to Cleveland, Jacksonville and Miami.

After the removal of the old facilities the public parking lot
was completed and could accommodate a total of 4,500 automobiles.Over 15,000 vehicles used the parking facilities on a daily basis.

During its first year in operation the terminal handled
2.5-million passengers and about 525 flights a day.Over 7,000 people passed through the terminal’s concourses
every day.

Two bird's-eye views of the 1961 Terminal taken after
the completion of Concourse A.

In 1962 a sixth concourse (Concourse A) was added boosting the
number of gates to 60.This
facility was assigned to Eastern Airlines, which equipped its ramp-level gates
with ten telescoping-type jetways.

A Piedmont Airlines Martin 404 at Concourse C.
Note the Fairchild Hiller FH-227 in the background.

Piedmont Airlines commenced scheduled service on July 25, 1962
with direct flights to Washington DC via intermediate stops.Initially Fairchild Hiller FH-227 turbo-prop and Martin 404 airliners were
employed on the ATL service.Piedmont
occupied the west side of the Ticketing/Baggage Claim Building and used the
Eastern Airlines gate facilities at Concourse C.

A Pan American Douglas DC-8 taxies away from Concourse
E.

Pan American Douglas DC-8 jetliners began to visit the terminal
on May 29, 1964 when the carrier initiated an interchange with Delta Airlines on
the New Orleans-Atlanta-Washington DC-Philadelphia-London-Paris route.

A Delta Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-9 parked at
Concourse E.

On December 8, 1965 Delta Airlines operated the world’s first
scheduled McDonnell Douglas DC-9 flight on the Atlanta-Memphis-Kansas City route.

A 1967 pilot's view of a busy 1961 Terminal. Note the
construction of the Rotunda Modules at Concourses E & F.

Air traffic at ATL increased at a staggering rate and as early
as 1967 officials began thinking about a larger terminal.Preliminary designs called for a bold-mega terminal but the airlines
withdrew their support in 1969 after they decided they wanted a huge jetport
with room for unlimited expansion.

Twelve new gates increased capacity at Concourses E and F in
1968 when two Rotunda-Gate Modules became operational.Each Rotunda could accommodate six McDonnell Douglas DC-9 jetliners and was
designed to handle the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet.The lovely Rotundas where architecturally coordinated with the
Ticketing/Baggage Claim Building.

A fabulous 1969 late-afternoon shot of the beautiful Googie-style
terminal.

Two additional trunk carriers were awarded routes to Atlanta in
1969.Braniff International
initiated scheduled service on August 14th with direct Boeing 707 flights to
Honolulu via Dallas Love Field and National Airlines began scheduled service on
October 1st with nonstop Douglas DC-8 flights to San Francisco.

Wide-body operations started on October 25, 1970 when Delta
Airlines introduced the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet on the Atlanta-Dallas-Los Angeles
route.Smaller wide-body airliners
followed in 1972 when Delta began operating the McDonnell Douglas DC-10
and Eastern Airlines the Lockheed L-1011 TriStar.

In 1971 Atlanta became an international gateway when Eastern
Airlines was awarded a route connecting Atlanta to Mexico City.

An evocative 1971 evening view of the 1961
Terminal.

Later that year Atlanta Municipal Airport was renamed Hartsfield
Atlanta International Airport.By
this time the terminal was handling close to 15-million passengers a year and to
accommodate further growth airport officials launched an ambitious expansion
program.

Two mid-1970s views depicting the expansion of the Ticketing/Baggage
Claim Building.

The Ticketing/Baggage Claim Building was expanded providing
additional ticket counter space and more luggage carousels.Walking distances from the Delta and Eastern Airlines ticket counters to
Concourses A, B, E and F were shortened as a result of the expansion.

A 1977 bird's-eye view of the 1961 Terminal. Note
the expanded Concourse A and the mobile lounge docking ports.

In 1972 Eastern Airlines added three upper-level departure
lounges (designed to handle the Lockheed L-1011) to Concourse A.Two docking ports designed to accommodate Dulles Int’l Airport-type
mobile lounges were incorporated into the renovation.By this time the terminal had become extremely busy and Eastern Airlines
was double-parking airliners and using remote stands.

The two Northwest Airlines gates at Concourse D were rebuilt and
boasted second-level departure lounges equipped with telescoping-type jetways.These came in handy when Northwest Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10s stopped at ATL
while operating between Chicago and Miami.

The Delta Airlines departure lounges at Concourses E and F were
expanded to handle wide-body airliners and the Rotunda at Concourse E was
modified to handle arriving international flights.

In 1978 several regional carriers were awarded routes to Atlanta
as a result of the Airline Deregulation Act.Frontier Airlines began scheduled service in August with
Boeing 737 flights on the Atlanta-Wichita-Denver-Salt Lake City route.North Central Airlines commenced scheduled service on September 5th with
McDonnell Douglas DC-9 service to Detroit.Ozark Airlines initiated scheduled service in December with McDonnell
Douglas DC-9 flights to Des Moines, Peoria and Moline.United Airlines pulled out of Atlanta when it decided to expand
operations at Memphis and move its regional headquarters to Tampa International
Airport.

A wonderful 1978 view of a busy 1961 Terminal.

Also beginning in 1978, Delta Airlines and
several foreign flag carriers were awarded routes to various cities in Europe.Delta Airlines began Lockheed L-1011 scheduled service to London Gatwick
on April 30, 1978.Sabena Belgian
World Airlines commenced scheduled service in June with Boeing 707 flights to
Brussels. Lufthansa Airlines initiated scheduled service in May 1980 with
McDonnell Douglas DC-10 flights on the Dallas-Atlanta-Frankfurt route.British Caledonian Airways started scheduled service in June with
McDonnell Douglas DC-10
flights to London Gatwick.

During its final year in operation the
jam-packed old facilities handled an amazing 42-million passengers a figure
never imagined by its designers in the late 1950s.Due to a shortage of gates, airlines would often double park airliners and flights would
operate around the clock.

Early 1980s postcards of the Midfield
Terminal complex.

On September 21, 1980 the Midfield
Terminal complex was opened to scheduled airline service and the old terminal
building was finally closed.The
new terminal building (then the world’s largest) was loosely based on the
Landside/Airside concept pioneered at Tampa International Airport in 1971.The complex was comprised of a Landside Terminal and four Airside
concourses with 125 gates (a fifth concourse could be added when required).Linking all the terminals was an underground Westinghouse People Mover
System and moving walkways.

A pilot's view of the Midfield Terminal complex.
Note the redeveloped 1961 Terminal site (on the far right) above the parallel
runways.

For the next few years the Administration
Building would continue to be occupied by the aviation authority but the rest of
the terminal would be remain vacant.In
1982 Concourses C and D were demolished to make way for a fourth (north)
parallel runway.Two years later
Concourses B, E and F were razed and the Administration Building was imploded.In 1986 the Ticketing/Baggage Claim Building was removed.The last section of the old terminal to be destroyed was Concourse A,
which met its demise in 1990.This
facility had been converted (in the early 1980s) into office space for upstart
carrier Air Atlanta.Today all that
remains of the old terminal is the former 4,500-space public parking lot.A hotel occupies the site of the former Administration Building.